How to Create Realistic CG Glass | Adobe After Effects Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will create 3D glass with the help of ActionVFX Glass collections. We will discuss how to mimic believable glass properties, such as; 3D reflection and refraction, all in Adobe After Effects.

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00:00 Into
00:42 Creating 3D Environment
01:30 The Properties of Glass
02:13 Texture
03:31 Refraction
05:00 Reflection
06:53 Compositing to live action footage
07:54 Outro

How to Create a 3D Bullet Time Shot | Quick Tips:

ActionVFX collections used in this tutorial:
Breaking Glass
Fractured Glass Vol.1 (Free!)
Bullet Holes (Free!)

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[RedFocusEntertainment]

I was just faking car windows from a green screen shoot. This was incredibly helpful!!! Thank you!

[michellemamzel]

BIG HI to Rody and the entire team! Action VFX is ALWAYS helpful and supportive to the creative community! Lots of free assets and tutorials and professional grade stuff used in film and TV as well. What a great group of people. Now add some davinci and hitfilm versions too lol. viewed liked and subscribed! Hugs from the Michelle Mamzel channel!

[speedtripvfx]

Nice to see a 3D effect tutorial in After Effects without use any extra 3D software like Blender or C4D ^^

[frankmei]

Thanks for the great tutorial! i have question, at timeline 5:52, the number 1 layer "reflection_ layer" is actually a empty adjustment layer without any effects on it, when i apply "track matte", the adjustment layer/ "reflection_layer" grays out, can not be applied track matte on it, i use " classic 3D" setting, I used latest 2025 AE version, so why it happened? Thanks

[andrewrosengard]

How did you add the controller after adding the windows in the Main Plate comp? I looked into How to Create a 3D Bullet Time Shot video, but it does not mention the Controller layer in it.

[nemesis]

_This tutorial is not easy to keep up with: you make reference to layers that have different names on the comp and you don't fully explain about why you are using the filters and how they work exactly. It would be nice if you'd explained how the layers interact with the ones above, below and why. This is not a tutorial for a beginner and you should always keep in mind who your audience actually is. Thumbs down._